BY MICHAEL HAYNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

The U.S. Supreme Court’s historic 5-4 decision to uphold Obamacare and allow millions of Americans the right not to die has suddenly turned Facebook and Twitter users into constitutional scholars. I think even Kim Kardashian is weighing in with her legal expertise. Indeed, if America was a severely fractured state of partisan hyperbole and party leaders running around like a bunch of decapitated chickens, the SCOTUS decision on healthcare--a contentious and deeply personal issue politically, legally, and economically--essentially just fired the starter pistol to the partisan races.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is never shy about sharing his thoughts and opinions, which he often does in cartoonish shouting form. Much like every Republican, Christie hates the program and sees it as an economic tax burden. Oddly enough, Christie has been a cheerleader for Mitt Romney’s candidacy, a man who might as well have be vying to become President Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Resources since his Healthcare Reform enacted as Massachusetts governor served as a blueprint for Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

"I've been clear from the very beginning that I do not believe a one-size-fits-all health care program works for the entire country and that governors should have the ability to make decisions about what works for their states," Christie said, according to the Gloucester County Times. "Today's Supreme Court decision is disappointing and I still believe this is the wrong approach for the people of New Jersey, who should be able to make their own judgments about health care. Most importantly," Christie said, "the Supreme Court is confirming what we knew all along about this law - it is a tax on middle class Americans."

The governor isn’t quite echoing the vapid and sloganeering talking points of vacuous former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, but he is assuming the Republican narrative that Obamacare is a pernicious federal power grab that’s somehow stealing freedom and jacking up taxes. Last month, Christie vetoed a bill last that would have created a health-insurance exchange in New Jersey to implement Obamacare. Part of Obama’s HCR are sweeping changes to Medicaid. So since Medicaid is technically a voluntary program that states don’t have to participate in if they don’t want to, Christie decided to let the poors face an inevitable penalty fee for lacking health insurance. Then again, the law does state that individuals could be “exempt” from paying the fee on the account financial hardship.

It’s safe to assume that HCR is a total party driven issue that Democrats love and Republicans hate, or at least that’s been the ratings-driven narrative. So lets see what some actual non-politicians had to say